Lion Boy and Drummer Girl Read online

  Lion Boy and Drummer Girl

  A Novel

  Pauline Loh

  ISBN: 978-981-47-8511-2

  First Edition: March 2018

  © 2018 by Pauline Loh

  Cover Illustration by Chee Jia Yi

  Published in Singapore by Epigram Books

  www.epigrambooks.sg

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  CHAPTER 46

  CHAPTER 47

  CHAPTER 48

  CHAPTER 49

  CHAPTER 50

  CHAPTER 51

  CHAPTER 52

  CHAPTER 53

  CHAPTER 54

  CHAPTER 55

  CHAPTER 56

  CHAPTER 57

  CHAPTER 58

  CHAPTER 59

  CHAPTER 60

  CHAPTER 61

  Acknowledgements

  About the author

  “With deft pen strokes, Pauline has made lion dance

  as enticing and trendy as K-pop. The novel is a page-turner packed with all the right elements: the handsome lion dance boys with their screaming hordes of teenage fans, the budding romance of a lion boy and a drummer girl, and the pulsating action of lion dances and old feuds. I cannot wait to see all the eye candy in the movie version!”

  —Emily Lim,

  award-winning author and Mediacorp’s

  Singapore Woman Award Honoree 2013

  “Lion Boy and Drummer Girl truly captures the essence of being young and in love. With the backdrop of the rich culture of Singapore and fascinating history of lion dance, the author spins a compelling story of two teens in the glitzy world of the idol industry. The book is will have readers hooked from the first sentence to the last.”

  —Evangelique Poh, 20, avid reader and fiction lover

  “Pauline and I are critique partners, and we had heady days giggling over ‘bare torsos’ and ‘taut muscles’ as we appraised each other’s stories. Lion Boy and Drummer Girl is almost like my own book! I am totally rooting for Ricky and Ying Ying.”

  —Catherine Carvell, Australian author of the Darcy Moon series and former regional coordinator for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (Singapore)

  ALSO FROM THE EPIGRAM BOOKS FICTION PRIZE

  WINNER

  The Gatekeeper by Nuraliah Norasid

  FINALISTS

  State of Emergency by Jeremy Tiang

  Fox Fire Girl by O Thiam Chin

  Surrogate Protocol by Tham Cheng-E

  LONGLISTED

  Lieutenant Kurosawa’s Errand Boy by Warran Kalasegaran

  The Last Immigrant by Lau Siew Mei

  Misdirection by Ning Cai

  2015

  Now That It’s Over by O Thiam Chin (winner)

  Sugarbread by Balli Kaur Jaswal

  Let’s Give It Up for Gimme Lao! by Sebastian Sim

  Death of a Perm Sec by Wong Souk Yee

  Annabelle Thong by Imran Hashim

  Kappa Quartet by Daryl Qilin Yam

  Altered Straits by Kevin Martens Wong

  To Shinhwa, whose brotherhood and loyalty inspired this story;

  To Eddie, the Best Husband in Town;

  To Alexis and Maxine, the pickiest readers for any YA author

  CHAPTER 1

  LION DANCE TAKES ASIA BY STORM

  The two Southern Lions pranced and leapt, and the teenage girls, who made up most of the audience, danced along in synchrony. They wore bright orange outfits—the colour of the Lion Legends.

  The music slowed. A hush, pulsated by muted drumbeats, descended as one lion froze with a tasselled foot raised. Its heavily decorated head swung slowly and suggestively in an arc; its half-lidded eyes surveyed the crowd while its painted mouth seemed to smile flirtatiously. It took its time to single out one audience member. The girls stood with fists pressed to their mouths or bosoms. Some girls screamed, “Pick me! PICK ME!”

  The ornate beast appeared to have made its choice. It sidled up to one excitable female and began to wiggle its hips. The girl hid her flaming cheeks in her hands. Her friends squashed against her, trying to share her limelight. Despite the audience having been forewarned not to so do, the girl scrambled onto the stage and flung her arms around the lion’s neck. Burly security guys immediately moved in to pry her away. The lion capered off, unconcerned about the hyperventilating girl it had left behind.

  As the street performance drew to a close, the accompanying bass drum quickened its beat, signalling the start of the event the fans had been eagerly anticipating. The cheers from the crowd grew deafening. The two lions waited until they had everybody’s full attention. Then, with a smooth, graceful motion, they disrobed.

  The costumes fell off to reveal four teenage boys—or rather, four demigods—dressed in orange satin pants and white tees that hugged their sweat-soaked bodies. Their chests were still heaving from the effort of their earlier dynamic performance; well-defined abdominal muscles stood out through their thin apparel.

  The boys lapped up the applause. Their faces were impossibly perfect. Their complexions were flawless, their hair was immaculately coiffed, their eyes could melt granite, and their lips parted to reveal even rows of teeth that shone against their golden tans. Their bodies were works of art that had been crafted in the gym.

  The huge LED screen above the lions blazed with the dancers’ statistics. The first boy took a step forward and bowed gracefully. The screen showed:

  Zeus, king of the gods

  Real Name:Lim Jung Hyuk

  Birthday:16 February

  Age:18

  Height:180 cm

  Weight:69 kg

  Education: Six Distinctions at ‘A’ Levels

  Talents:Dance, martial arts and studying

  Debut: April 2012

  Position:First lion head

  “Zeussie!” a group of girls screamed.

  The second boy stepped forward and waved. He was shorter than the rest, which he was very touchy about, but his attractive smiling eyes more than made up for it.

  Prometheus, who defied the gods and brought fire to man

  Real Name: Lau Dong Wan

  Birthday:21 November

  Age: 18

  Height: 174 cm

  Weight:66 kg

  Education:
Six Distinctions at ‘A’ Levels

  Talents:Bodybuilding, martial arts and

  accepting challenges

  Debut:April 2012

  Position:Second lion head

  “Prome, Mercury!” a gaggle of girls sang.

  Mercury and Prome were often mentioned together because they partnered as one lion. Mercury smiled and stepped forward. He was as tall as Zeus was, but much more powerfully built, and had a mischievous face.

  Mercury, god of speed and flight

  Real Name:Tan Chung Jae

  Birthday:19 August

  Age: 17

  Height:181 cm

  Weight:72 kg

  Education: Four Points for ‘O’ Levels

  Talents:Dancing, martial arts and clowning around

  Debut: April 2012

  Position:Second lion body

  The last teenage boy was obviously the youngest of the quartet. His cheeks still showed hints of baby fat and his limbs had the gangly awkwardness of a growing youth. His face bore some resemblance to Zeus’, as he was Zeus’ younger brother. He waved shyly at the screaming crowd.

  Apollo, the sun god

  Name:Lim An Dee

  Birthday:21 January

  Age: 15

  Height:177 cm

  Weight:71 kg

  Education:International Baccalaureate studies

  Debut:April 2013

  Talents:Basketball, football and dancing

  Position:First lion body

  “Apple!” the girls squealed. An Dee blushed and squirmed adorably. He had debuted as a young boy when his cheeks were so chubby and rosy that one reporter described him as being “apple-cheeked”. Although he had shot up in the past year and was struggling with a breaking voice, the nickname stuck.

  The bass drum sounded a two-beat signal and the boys donned their costumes in unison. The street performance, which lasted an hour, had ended. But the girls were not disappointed. They were already booking Uber rides to take them to the location of the lion dancers’ next performance, where they would patiently wait for several hours before the boys made their appearance there.

  CHAPTER 2

  THE GIRL ON THE OUTSIDE

  Ong Ying Ying stood to the side of the stage and eyed the audience cynically. She was only 18—a teenager, like many of the girls in the crowd. But, unlike them, her heart did not go pitter-patter in the presence of the lion dancers. This was because she always remembered the boys as preteens with scrawny chests, gangly limbs and crooked teeth when they had auditioned for her father, the owner of Lion Legends.

  Zeus was older than she was by a few months. While most perceived him to be a bossy and charismatic leader, at Legends Hall he called Ying Ying “Jie”—elder sister. She was the daughter of his shifu—his lion dance master—and more experienced than he in all the ways of the Legends.

  Prome was younger than she was. He had been so nervous during his audition that he had thrown up and Ying Ying had had to calm him down.

  Mercury towered over her. His temper was notorious, but she could subdue him with a simple glare.

  As a young boy, Apple had often hidden behind Ying Ying when Shifu threatened to punish him. He did not have an older sister and Zeus liked to terrorise him, so Ying Ying became his favourite person in the Legends.

  After the boys had been accepted into Lion Legends, they had grown up alongside Ying Ying and she had had a hand in grooming them into the demigods they were today.

  Ying Ying was pretty and slim. Her heart-shaped face and luminous complexion were passed down from her mother, a TV presenter and former actress. Her natural athletic grace was inherited from her father, a martial arts exponent and lion dance instructor.

  Her best feature was her waterfall of straight black hair. At the moment, it was bunched carelessly into a ponytail. She wore jeans and a plain tee-shirt emblazoned with the Legends crest, which was her working uniform. She was an ‘A’-level student but worked in her father’s troupe during the weekends and school holidays—scheduling and managing performances, and balancing the accounts. She was her father’s right-hand person.

  Her father, Ong Lung San, had already gone ahead to the second location to prepare the stage for the next performance. Ying Ying wondered if she should call to check on him. She did not doubt her father’s abilities—he was the best in the business—but he had become as much of a star as his disciples, and fans often clustered around him and interfered with his work. Lung San was too warm and generous to rebuff them, so he sometimes got distracted, although he never compromised on his boys’ safety.

  The LED screen was now showing a pre-recorded segment from Leopop News, a lifestyle news programme that had been launched in the last year in response to Asia’s lion dance craze. Leopop was a mashup of the words “Leo”, for lion, and “popular”, and the buzzword topped Internet searches every day.

  CHAPTER 3

  THE IDOL MAKER

  The guests on this particular episode of Leopop News, “Pioneers of Leopop”, were men from the Lion Dance Council. Seated right in the middle of them was Ying Ying’s dad, Lung San.

  Lung San was 55 years old but looked 20 years younger because of his lithe and toned body. Ying Ying could not help but admire how handsome her dad was in his satin Chinese jacket with frog buttons and his figure-hugging ripped jeans, a single drop earring tangled in his tousled, longish hair. His colleagues, in contrast, were grumpy conservative men with potbellies. Yet they deferred to and respected him because of his consummate martial arts skills and, more important, his dedication to the art of lion dance.

  The Leopop News anchorwoman, Jessica Yeo, was a pretty lady in her twenties. She gushed, “Lung Shifu, everyone says you made lion dance what it is today. Lion dance programmes and news are featured during every television prime time, and lion dancers have become pop icons. In fact, your nickname is ‘Idol maker’. Can you tell me how you created this regional sensation?”

  Lung San drawled softly, “The lion is a guardian creature. Time and again in China’s history, when the Chinese were under spiritual or physical attack from neighbouring countries, the lion gave them strength and hope.”

  Ying Ying chuckled when she saw the anchorwoman’s eyes glazing over with boredom. Jessica scrambled to divert Lung San from his history lesson. This was not what viewers watched Leopop News for. “Yes, yes, but Lung Shifu, back to Zeus and the boys. I’m such a fan! I understand you hold stiff auditions that don’t just test the candidates’ athletic abilities but also take into account their looks and star potential. How did you know that idols were what it would take to revive lion dance?”

  Lung San explained, “Around a decade ago, lion dance had become shrouded in superstition and underworld connections—associations were doing dismally, and recruitment had dropped to an all-time low. I thought, perhaps we need attractive role models who will resonate with the youth. Lion dance is a visual art, but the solution was not in buying more elaborate or expensive lion costumes. What was under the costumes also needed to look good.”

  “Yes, I heard that your number-one criterion for those who audition is ‘no pimples’,” Jessica said. Lung San leant forward and scrutinised her face. The camera zoomed in on her peerless complexion. Ying Ying was amused to see the lady getting flustered by Dad’s proximity to her.

  “Hmm, I believe Mercury’s complexion is better than yours,” he teased disarmingly. The audience erupted in laughter while Jessica looked alarmed and checked herself surreptitiously in the nearest reflective surface.

  Lung San continued, “Jung Hyuk met all my standards. But my daughter Ying Ying said that his name was too difficult to remember, so we decided to rename him after a Greek god.”

  Jessica put a manicured finger to her bright red lips. “Zeus? Zeus’ birth name is Jung Hyuk?”

  Lung San scratched his head ruefully, looking absurdly youthful as he did so. “Oh dear, Ying Ying keeps telling me to refer to the boys by their stage names, but I always for
get. Wait a minute—she prefers to be called Camellia.”

  Ying Ying squeaked with frustration. How many times had she reminded him to refer to her by her English name in public?

  He went on, “I told my boys, ‘When you are in costume, you must feel, think and move like the guardian of the spirit portal and protector of the people. Out of costume, be your natural selves—soft, vulnerable and happy. Bring joy to your fans and help them to forget their troubles.’ I don’t know how it happened, but these young men became the dream boyfriends of every teenage girl.”

  Jessica turned to one of the senior council members. “Low Shifu,” she greeted prettily.

  “Call me Low Ge,” he invited in a voice that had been made hoarse from a lifetime of smoking.

  “Yes…” Jessica smiled fakely. The paunchy senior did not have the same agreeable effect on her as the handsome Lung San did. “Low Ge, did you agree with Lung San’s methods?”

  “At first,” he said, “it all seemed quite heretical. We were worried about how much tradition he was going to break. But we were all struggling with the same issues of bad public opinion. Lung has always been a trustworthy brother of the council; we knew how this brother had devoted his life to lion dance. Then Lung’s boys became famous and soon those who could not make it past Lung’s auditions were begging for entry into our troupes. Lung set the standard that we felt we had to match up to.”

  The camera panned back to Lung San. He said, “All the kids are into social media. I don’t understand it, but my boys do. Practice is 90 per cent, but the remaining effort must be spent on getting to know our audience. Lion dance never had fans before; our audience used to just be passers-by. The first few fans began talking about lion dance on social media, and the craze soon went viral.”

  He continued, “Before Apollo was old enough to audition, he had been spending all his time practising in front of the mirror. But I soon realised that recruits should not neglect their studies while doing well in lion dance. So I made it a requirement that candidates for my troupe had to be straight-A students. Parents started investing in expensive tuition so that their sons could get good enough grades in school to qualify to audition. It was madness. Lion Legends has groomed a batch of well-rounded trainees. Many of them have gone on to accept handsome contracts with other local and even overseas troupes. Some have even received scholarships to study at top tertiary institutions.”